Review | Clover: A Curious Tale
Dizzy just thinking about it…
Format: PC | Genre: Adventure/platformer | Publisher: Blitz Arcade | Developer: Binary Tweed | Release date: 03/03/10 | RRP: £5.99
This new PC version of oddball XBL Indie Games title CLOVER: A CURIOUS TALE has put Daniel Lipscombe in a mood.
It seems rather trendy to make a puzzle platformer that’s all moody and emo – first Braid, and then to a lesser extent P.B. Winterbottom. There’s also Clover: A Curious Tale – which, although originally released in 2009, may not have caught your eye, having been tucked away in the Xbox Live indie section. Its developers have spent the past seven months tweaking and refining the game ready for its release on the PC, where I hope it sees more time of day.
It’s worth noting that Clover is as good as neither Braid nor Winterbottom, really, but it’s still as important. It’s important because it tells a great story, one full of intrigue, and it does this without the need for flashy graphics and action sequences. In Clover, you control a character called Sam who lives in a welfare state called Sanha. His country has been attacked, and it’s up to him to answer questions regarding the upcoming war.
It’s somewhat reminiscent of retro game Dizzy, and it’s pleasing to see those familiar mechanics being used again. Sam wanders around with his hands in his pockets looking rather sullen, picking up items and moving them from place to place solving puzzles. The puzzle element is particularly well-designed, and there are real moments of head-scratching at various points during the adventure. This isn’t a game of attempting to combine silly items with one another to find your solution; everything is logical, but requires you to think 
outside the box – another breath of fresh air.
Welcome to the Black Parade
Clover is an incredibly moody game. Our central character walks with his head down and the world on his shoulders, while the people around him gossip about nothing but war and death. This melancholy is heightened by a story that remains smart throughout, dealing with refreshingly topical subjects and the troubles of war.
This isn’t a game about super-soldiers stamping on heads; it’s about people, and how they react to their country going to war. At only three hours long, Clover is absolutely worth playing to the conclusion to see the story come into its full glory. There are several endings to see, and each is satisfying and interesting, as Sam’s world succumbs to a different fate in 
each one.
Unfortunately, while there may be several endings, there’s never a need to replay the main game to see them – and, as with many puzzle games, once the puzzle is solved there’s rarely a want to go back. Clover also suffers with pacing issues as the game reaches its halfway point. It may be the relentlessly melancholy feel or the puzzles beginning to grate, but a feeling of tedium does kick in at this stage.
Such problems don’t detract too much from the overall experience, however. From start to finish the game looks remarkably charming with its innocent 2D appearance, and is often genuinely interesting. If you only play it for one thing, let it be the story and its characters: they say more in their few sentences than some games do in ten-minute cut-scenes. They’re the crowning achievements of a heartfelt journey that’s worth a few coins of anyone’s money.
